CSUB Towers shrink
Bakersfield Californian 3/29/07
For now, the Towers are 24 stories instead of 32 stories, developer Carl Cole said Wednesday.
The California State University board of trustees gave the project conceptual approval in late January, but has not given a final OK.
The project may cost about $400 million.
Cole's former business partner, David Crisp, is working to secure the financing and is in talks with investors in New York and the United Kingdom, Cole said.
Once money is lined up, Cole said they will go back to CSU trustees.
"We would really like to have our money in place and present something to them in May. We've had to learn patience," Cole said.
CSUB President Horace Mitchell said the university and Crisp and Cole are "still working together on the final definition of the project and we don't have that yet."
The towers decreased in size because CSU trustees were concerned two 32-story towers would look monolithic, Cole said.
The project, near Camino Media and Scarlet Oak Boulevard, now features a town/lifestyle center approach.
"This is very much about creating a lifestyle that doesn't exist in our community," said architect David Milazzo of Milazzo/Associates. There's a common area in the center, a loop that would surround office and retail space. It's designed to be inviting to the public and university community.
Las Vegas-based architect Ed Vance, who is working with Milazzo on the project, has expertise in designing casinos and condominium towers.
A faculty area, called the Commons Club, would be included. Below it would be an environmentally friendly power plant.
A third tower may be part of the project. This could be either office space or more condominiums.
The project is precedent-setting, Cole said, but he added project components may change. "Anything we're telling you today could change tomorrow," he said.
In terms of height, the towers will be about 112 times the size of Stockdale Tower, Milazzo said. That's because floor-to-floor dimensions in commercial space are about 15 feet tall, but in condominiums, stories are closer to 11 feet tall.
In late January, Cole said he was hopeful he could attract a Nordstrom to the project, but that's no longer on the table, he said. He does hope to lure retail tenants along the lines of Coach and J.Crew.
"We think there's enough retailers coast to coast to enable us to provide upscale shopping without duplicating anything else in town," Cole said.
The Hilton Garden Inn has given Cole a letter of intent to plan and develop the hotel and 1,000-seat conference center.
A hotel representative did not return a call for comment Wednesday.
The eight-story hotel would be its own facility rather than situated on top of condos, Milazzo said. It's near a proposed campus baseball stadium.
The towers would house 500 condominiums ranging from 700 to more than 3,000 square feet. Residents would have secure underground parking and access to storage facilities.
The project would be built in three phases.
* Phase 1: The hotel, convention center, parking and the first tower will be built. That may be completed by mid-2010, Milazzo said.
* Phase 2: The second tower and additional parking would be added.
* Phase 3: Additional retail and office space would be constructed.
The towers are the second of three proposed public-private partnerships. All are designed to generate revenue for CSUB.
In November, trustees gave conceptual approval to Gregory D. Bynum & Associates' four- to six-story office building project.
Bakersfield Adventures for the Mind, an interactive children's museum, is the final proposal.
Trustees may consider it at their May meeting.